Section 6
Pathway 3: Moving to low carbon logistics
Logistics is the vital link between raw material production, manufacturing, retailers and customers. Transport and storage facilities deliver products safely and efficiently to the UK market from global supply chains, with movements of goods conducted by road, rail, sea and air. Efficient logistics networks are key to successful retail operations delivering on quality, product availability and price.
The movement of high volumes of goods also presents a significant climate impact. Transportation has been a long-standing focus of customer concerns over climate, with ‘food miles’ being top of the agenda in the early 2000s. Since then, understanding has moved on to show that logistics typically account for less than 10% of a retailer’s total carbon footprint. However, irrespective of relative impact, emissions from transportation are significant in aggregate and highly visible to customers, so there is keen interest from society at large over how the climate impact for moving goods can - and should - be tackled.
